Baroni Not Happy With Reduced Sentance

LOS ANGELES – Phil Baroni looked morose as he exited his hearing with the California State Athletic Commission on Wednesday. His suspension of one year had been reduced to six months, but his name was not cleared.

“It feels like a loss to me,” Baroni told reporters. “I’m convicted of using steroids. I didn’t use steroids. I thought I took enough tests to prove I didn’t. I wanted more than anything to prove I didn’t do it. To be cleared of it. And I’m not. I’m labeled guilty. “I’ll be able to fight soon, but I still didn’t get what I wanted.”

Baroni testified in front of the CSAC board for nearly a half-hour, flatly denying any steroid use and speaking at length about his career and training methods.

The centerpiece of his defense was four separate steroid tests he took around the time of his fight. The first was taken at the behest of manager Ken Pavia, who claimed he ordered it prior to the fight after discovering one of the 67 supplements Baroni was taking carried a warning for causing false positives. Baroni said he didn’t want the test floating around for possible detection by the media, so he had his fiancé’s name used in the results.

We have guys at my work in the same situation all the time, if they can prove it about their sups then we clear them. Steriods aren't like cocaine, they stay in your system at high levels for a longer time!